#WelcomeGCN

Following in little sister Ruth's footsteps, Thomas Ivor has made it onto the front of tonight's GCN Show, with a flying dismount!

Family ByCycle @LondonBikeShow '16

We were delighted to win tickets, courtesy of Islabikes, for this year's London Bike Show at ExCeL, in London's Docklands.

Thomas Ivor is between schools at the moment and the only chance we had for all three children to go was the Thursday, which was a shame in that we missed Mark Beaumont, Matt Stephens, Chris Boardman and Chris Hoy, amongst others, but was a blessing in that the show was relatively quiet, it being a school day.

One of the main reasons for wanting to go was actually to visit the Islabikes stand, our Northamptonshire home being nearer to the show than their base in Shropshire. This year we have two possible purchases in our sights - a 24" wheeled bike for Thomas Ivor, and a first set of pedals for Ruth.

Waiting for the train, Croozer packed flat, ready to go!

Three children, two of whom are ambulatory but not reliable and still require a considerable amount of paraphernalia, with just the one of me, represents something of a challenge on public transport, and so bearing in mind the success of our trip to the NEC last year, I decided to get brave and take the trailer to London on the train.

I knew that it was physically possible to get the trailer, I mean, pushchair (nomenclature is important!) dropped flat, onto the East Midlands Trains 'Meridian' on to St Pancras - it just takes time and practice to get it all ready, and ideally a hand from the platform staff to stop the little ones hurling themselves down the gap, which at Wellingborough, where we boarded, is considerable. Unfortunately, the double Croozer is about five inches too wide to get it in assembled.

The best news came when we got to London - and it was a little closer for comfort than I'd have liked, but it all worked!

Happily, we can report that we successfully got through the gates at St Pancras, into the lifts and through the ticket gates onto the sub-surface platforms and changed onto the Docklands Light Railway at West Ham and Canning Town. Both the new 'S' stock on the Underground, and the DLR trains, had ample capacity to admit us without causing anyone any bother. It would seem that the standard door opening of a lift on the Underground is about an inch or so wider than the trailer, so with care, we were able to roll straight in, arriving at ExCeL just in time for lunch.

Upon entering the show, mindful that the girls were likely to tire, we headed for the Islabikes stand on the far side of the hall. A lovely young lady by the name of Suzanne greeted us and took time with each of the children individually to give them a go on a bike. By the time Thomas Ivor and Ruth had had their turn, Rhoda just had to be let out for a spin on a Rothan!

The verdict? Well, Ruth is ready for the Cnoc 14 as soon as we are (£250 to find!).  She was almost managing to pedal but it's going to take some work, of course. Thomas Ivor's just had another inch and a half into the seat post on his Beinn 20s, but as yet isn't ready to make the move to the Luath 24, which nevertheless looks like the bike of choice, so that purchase can probably wait until the Autumn.

What with looking at bikes, Thomas Ivor riding a motorcycle, visiting various tourist boards' stands, watching people do ridiculous things on the climbing wall, street velodrome and BMX ramps, we had an action-packed afternoon. We traded Alan Partridge quotes with the man representing the Norfolk Broads, had some good-natured banter with some people trying to make cycling acceptable in the New Forest, and a bizarre encounter with a jobsworth who accused me of trying to kill Ruth by test driving a Babboe City cargo bike (which I loved, by the way) on the short test track - without a helmet! Horrors! The poor Dutch chap who demonstrated it to me must have wondered what all the fuss was about.

Ruth wasn't so much disappointed to be going home, as utterly raging. In fact, she made herself a bit sick, such was the magnitude of her displeasure at leaving the show. As always with little children we didn't get to do and see everything, but we had a wonderful time - and the knowledge that the Croozer Kid for 2 can get around London is a welcome piece of 'gen'...

We want to say a warm 'thank you' to the folk at Islabikes for their superb customer service, which as always lives up to the product's high standards, for the competition prize of the show tickets and for replacing Thomas Ivor's leg warmers, torn when he came off in the park the other week, which was a very kind gesture indeed.

Plotting and Planning - The Extra-Curricular Curriculum

Thomas Ivor had a surprise in the post this morning:

We had given up on being able to take him, but being around on a weekday at the moment means I was able to book for him to see his hero and inspiration Mark Beaumont next month. We're very excited!

One of the pieces of advice Mark gave to Thomas Ivor was to spend his winter planning his next adventure. Over the past week or so Thomas Ivor has been finding opportunities to prepare his planning skills, too. We have been out on map-reading exercises, learned about ratio in relation to map scales, built a contour map of an island we sailed past on our 2014 trip to the Outer Hebrides, and as his test piece I have left him to use all the resources on my bookshelves to plan hypothetical adventures in this country and abroad, from route choice to finding accommodation.

This work has culminated in us starting to look at how to 'carve up the Elephant' for Thomas Ivor's 2016 challenge. Taking inspiration from Mark Beaumont's trip from Alaska to Argentina, when he also climbed Denali and Aconcagua, Thomas Ivor has challenged himself to climb the 'Three Peaks' - Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, and to cycle between them.

Constraints of budget, time, childcare and our inability to cross the Lakeland fells with the trailer on the back (I think we'll save the Fred Whitton for when the children have grown up!) mean that he can't do it all in one go - indeed, it will be a significant challenge to get it all done this year. We reckon we're looking at 15 days of riding, plus the three climbs, which we will need to do during the better weather.

I often find this part of the process a very therapeutic one, but looking at it from the perspective of a home educator it's amazing just how much you can teach a child through the process - not just humanities subjects, either, but maths, physics and languages, too...

A Flying Start

Last night's outing to our local cycling club was a runaway success. Thomas Ivor had a great time weaving in and out of cones on the tennis courts, they rode individually and in groups, concluding with a 'girls vs boys' team time trial, teaching them to ride for one another.

I've been involved in all sorts of activities for children, and all sorts of clubs and societies over the years, and was really impressed with the organisation, planning and skill that went into the evening. Every child got personal encouragement and feedback, and it was clear from the other parents present that it's a very popular group.

There being something of a Cyclocross bent to the session, Thomas Ivor came away wanted to sort out flying dismounts. A bit of GCN watching later, we set off to the park with the girls to give it a go.

I think it's safe to say that he's well on with it...

We're really looking forward to next time. Desert Storm is coming back, and I have some knobbly tyres to re-fit!

Joining the club

Changes to Thomas Ivor's living arrangements mean that he has been able to do something he has wanted to try for a long time - joining a cycling club.

This is a new set of circumstances for me, too, having never been to a sports activity as a parent. As a matter of personal pride, 'Ben' has therefore been up on the workstand this afternoon, for a thorough 'wash and brush-up' ahead of his first outing tonight!

WeeHoo-ing out 2015

Rhoda's Striderbike has been a hit, but we decided that one more ride as a family was on the cards for 2015, so with the trailer folded up, out came the WeeHoo for another run. Rhoda is still a bit small for it so the colder weather gives us an excuse to put the girls in their snow suits (obtained for buttons courtesy of the Dare2B online clearance!)

I'm rapidly growing in confidence with the WeeHoo and its peculiar centre of gravity. So, too, are the girls, and it is definitely much easier to load them and get everything ready, with two pairs of hands. Rhoda cried again early in this afternoon's run but, soon after, had nodded off! After a few laps of the bandstand, Katie was able to sit on my wheel to observe, and reports that it really is very stable and that we can have confidence in both how it tows and how the girls get on with it. We need now to look at pannier solutions. So far nobody seems to have done it with the 2015 model and its asymmetric rear arm. If it requires a welded solution, we want to give it a fair test in standard form, first!

Ruth borrowed her brother's Swisseye 'Young' glasses for eye protection; we were very impressed with the fit on her smaller face, and with the way she left them totally alone under her lid, thoughout the ride.

I dared to bring Katie along the cycle paths we tried in the autumn, which were a pain in the proverbial and littered with broken vodka bottles. Needless to say we returned home once more on the road, much happier with our lot.

Our little microadventure complete, we returned to the house and went off to the gym for a swim. I dropped a quick 1k on the rower as well, in a new PB. There's a turn-up for the books!

We've not covered quite the ground we'd hoped over Christmas. The weather's not played ball and we've had other things to contend with, but we are well set up for 2016. Happy New Year everyone - where will the coming year take you?

Head to Head Review: Islabikes Rothan vs Strider Pro

For the second year, I've had the frustrating privilege of unpacking and building little bikes that are much anticipated by our children, but which will have to stay in hiding for a little longer.

This Christmas, it's little Rhoda's turn to get her first balance bike, and in a departure from our recent loyalty to Islabikes, we've gone in a slightly different direction. If you want to understand what balance bikes are all about, and why we would never touch a stabiliser ever again, we can write about that another time.

Rhoda has been trying for some time now to make a start riding big sister Ruth's Islabike, and whilst Ruth was 23 months old when she got Rothan, Rhoda was nearer 16 months when she first gave it a go. The weight was just a little too much for her. In any event, Ruth is still some way off being ready for the next step. A few more laps round the bandstand for her!

Fast forward a month and the girls found themselves at the NEC, trying out the competition. The lady who imports Strider bikes gave a very strong and knowledgable pitch for her product, when I explained that we had a Rothan and were considering a second balance bike.

Long before we had finished talking, Ruth and Rhoda had both selected a display model to play with. Rhoda found the top of the range aluminium Strider, the 'Pro' (I'm not sure how a toddler is a 'pro' at anything, but there you go!) much easier to handle, and was making a significantly better fist of walking with the bike. Ruth was shifting, too.

You will have gathered by now that we have purchased a Strider, but after a year of living with Rothan, what's it up against?

The Islabikes Rothan is the baby of their range, but very much a member of the family and oozes quality. Thomas Ivor and Ruth had bikes in matching green paint, which Ruth kissed better when she chipped it! The bike has a v-brake on the rear, with an extra-small lever, a threadless headset with an adjustable stem, pneumatic (presta-valved!), tyres on conventional spoked rims. Short of pedals and a front brake, it's a proper bike. It looks like a bike, it feels like a bike, mechanically it has everything in common with a serious bike from a serious manufacturer. It's a beautifully engineered piece.

We've lived with Rothan for a year now, and Ruth loves her bike to bits. It's covered some miles, but now we will need to spend some money, because she's outgrowing the starter saddle, which has an integral seat post (£15.99 at the time of writing). Nevertheless we are pleased with our purchase, and we are glad we chose it - one should bear in mind that Ruth actually wanted a Strider like a little Australian girl she found on YouTube!

So why, if we love Rothan so much, have we bought a different bike this time, and how does it compare?

Let me get out of the way the things I don't like about the Strider, compared to Rothan, because the case for the change has to overcome some serious misgivings on my part.

In my personal opinion it looks cheap, plasticky and gaudy. That may be saying more about me being a puritanical parent, or just a reflection of how we cycle and view bikes, I don't know, but we like quality products. The Rothan is a piece of engineering for toddlers. The Strider is brash, drawing on BMX styling - I couldn't bring myself to fit the number panel! The frame is agricultural, the headset is a bit rough and the other components are plasticky. Whereas Ruth kissed Rothan's chipped paint after a mishap in the park, I don't think the Strider, even this top-of-the-range model is the kind of bike that encourages children to look after it. It's toy-like. I genuinely didn't think the Strider was in the same league as the Rothan when we bought Ruth's bike last year.

Hold on, though, let's just pick that apart.

It looks cheaper because it is cheaper. Only two-thirds of the cost of a Rothan. And it includes a second seat with a longer seat post. The first seat is specifically designed to accommodate a child in a nappy. "No brakes!" I hear you cry. Well, no, but Ruth hasn't actually used hers successfully yet, and she's now nearly three years old. I reckon she'll quite possibly master pedals before brakes.

The plastic wheels and solid foam tyres weigh less than those on the Rothan, and you can't get a flat tyre. Not sure you can argue against that when the rider is still in Huggies and can neither read nor write yet.

The frame is nowhere near as beautiful, but at 2.2kg it weighs significantly less than the Rothan at 3.4kg. Weight is meant to be one of the biggest selling points for any children's bike.

There's no brake, but there is a patented foot rest on the rear fork, which makes a good deal of sense when you see a more competent child tripping over their own feet as they accelerate the bike. When your feet are your main method of propulsion, you can use them pretty efficaciously for braking, too.

The Strider was delivered promptly, it assembled quickly and easily, the only tool required being an allen key, which is included. My subjective opinion of the form may not be yours, but it functions just as it should.

Second hand prices indicate that the Rothans are holding their value, which underscores the quality of that product and the respect people have for the brand, but also makes the low opportunity cost of getting your little one on a Strider before they're out of nappies a tempting proposition.

For the very youngest children (say, sub-21 months), we believe that the Strider 'Out-Isla's Islabikes', in a way that overcomes our manifold difficulties with the rest of the design. Islabikes have always made justifiably strong points about weight, and about fit. Though I prefer the Rothan in every other regard, for a child as young as Rhoda, that different in weight and therefore initial ease of balance is huge! She doesn't need a brake. She won't want to be fixing punctures (the Islabikes wheels are a swine to inflate because the access to the valve within such a small rim is tight). Yes, she may well fall off it. So what.

Bottom line - if I was buying for a slightly older child, I'd buy the beautiful Rothan again in a heartbeat; for an under-two, I'd seriously consider the Strider based on the price, simplicity and light weight. Since few parents have children quite so close in age as our girls, having two such bikes in the family is not necessarily an economic proposition, and personal preference and budget will come into play.

In a year's time, Ruth will most likely be well onto her first Islabikes Cnoc (for which we see no competition in our eyes) and Rhoda will then have the choice of steeds. It will be interesting which way she goes, and in the meantime how our experiences of teaching on the two bikes differ. We will report back in due course. For the moment, I'd better hide the evidence before the girls wake up!

Islabikes' Rothan is available from the manufacturers' website for £149.99 at the time of writing, with a choice of seat post lengths. We bought our Strider 12 Pro from Action Kids for £100.